This invention relates to ornamental and protective edge guards which are applied to the edges of sheet metal closures of an automotive vehicle, such as the vehicle's doors.
In a typical automotive vehicle, door edge guards are applied to the trailing edges of the vehicle's doors to protect the door edges from damage which might be caused by striking an object which may be present in a door's path when the door is opened. It is very desirable for such door edge guards to be made of bright metal, such as stainless steel, aluminum, or bimetal, due to the superior protective and ornamental characteristics of such materials. Furthermore, the inherent strength and resiliency of such metallic edge guards enable them to be self-retaining on the doors. Correspondingly, it is generally undesirable to use separate fasteners or adhesives in securing door edge guards to doors since they involve extra cost in labor and materials. It is also generally undesirable to use non-metallic edge guards, such as vinyl edge guards, since they do not possess the superior protective, ornamental, and self-retention characteristics of the bright metallic edge guards. In connection with the usage of self-retaining door edge guards, it has heretofore been recognized that the potential for paint scratching and marring exists when the metallic edge guards are applied to vehicle doors. Such paint scratching can lead to premature corrosion of the door edge metal. A principal cause of this potential problem is attributable to the rather substantial dimensional variation in the thickness of the marginal edge of the door to which the edge guard is applied. Such variation is inherent in the prevailing method of constructing vehicle doors. Thus, a self-retaining door edge guard must be capable of accommodating a rather large range of door edge thicknesses, yet it must not cause paint scratching or marring on the door, and furthermore it must be readily installable on the assembly line, and it must be economical. Some of applicant's own prior inventions have addressed the paint scratching problem and provided solutions. For example, see applicant's own U.S. Pat. No. 2,704,687 in which integral curls are formed at the extremities of the inner and outer legs of the edge guard.
The present invention provides a new and improved edge guard for the edges of vehicle body closures, such as vehicle doors, which embodies the desirable characteristics of being metallic and self-retaining, which requires no separate fasteners or adhesives for attachment to a door, which avoids the potential problem of paint scratching and marring, which can accommodate the variations in door edge thickness, and yet which achieves economy in labor and use of materials. An edge guard embodying principles of the present invention can be readily installed on an automobile on an assembly line with a conventional tool and without the use of special tools, machines, or other devices. The present invention permits the use of metallic door edge guards of simple U-shape cross section, which means that a minimum amount of metal need be used. Prior edge guards, such as that disclosed in applicant's above-mentioned patent, require extra metal because of the integrally formed curls at the extremities of the inner and outer legs. Furthermore, fabrication of a metallic edge guard with curls is somewhat more complicated than fabrication of one without curls. The present invention possesses the further advantage of protectively insulating the edge guard metal from the door metal, and this is important in minimizing any tendency for electrochemical action to occur between the two when dissimilar metals are involved.
The foregoing features, advantages, and benefits of the present invention, along with additional ones, will be seen in the ensuing description and claims which should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings disclose presently preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the disclosure sets forth the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention.